The United States
Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on Tuesday said
Boko Haram had become the primary perpetrator of religiously-related
violence in Nigeria.
The
USCIRF, in a brief statement issued in Washington, stated it had
documented the group’s attacks from July 2012 to July 2013 to arrive at
its conclusion. “Boko Haram’s targets include churches, individual
Christians, Muslim critics, and persons engaged in behaviour deemed
un-Islamic. “Others are northern elders, schools, police stations,
government buildings, newspapers, and banks”, it noted
It said the
International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in November 2012
and August 2013 said there was reasonable basis to believe that Boko
Haram committed crimes against humanity.
The News Agency of
Nigeria reports that USCIRF had earlier this year recommended that
Nigeria be designated as a “country of particular concern” (CPC).
The
statement also recalled that the commission recommended CPC status for
Nigeria since 2009, adding: “Before that, Nigeria had been on USCIRF’s
Watch List since 2002.’’
The USCIRF was created by the
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to monitor the status of
freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief abroad.
This
was in line with the definition of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and related international instruments. It gives independent
policy recommendations to the U.S. President, Secretary of State and the
Congress. READ MORE: http://news.naij.com/44513.html
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